MlS Open Cup Begins tonight!

U.S. Open Cup begins for MLS clubs
First of five play-in games for league teams on April 30 in Utah

Last season's U.S. Open Cup ended with New England hoisting its first-ever championship hardware.


04/30/2008 12:13PM


The road to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins Wednesday night for Major League Soccer teams, with San Jose and Real Salt Lake meeting at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the first of five "play-in" games.
The Earthquakes have advanced as far as the semifinals in 2004, losing to eventual champions Kansas City 1-0. Six times the Quakes were in the quarterfinals, including the last time they were in the competition, falling to the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1, in 2005.

Real Salt Lake is playing in its third U.S. Open Cup, having lost to Colorado 1-0 in the fourth round last year and dropping a wild 6-4 third-round match against the Minnesota Thunder in extra time in 2005.

The winner of Wednesday's match will face the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on May 27 and the winner of that match will head to Toyota Park to meet the Chicago Fire at a date and time to be determined. The Colorado Rapids will meet the Galaxy May 27 at The Home Depot Center, with the winner advancing to take on the Kansas City Wizards.

The two surviving teams will join D.C. United, Chivas USA, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution, FC Dallas and New York Red Bulls, which have automatically qualified for the third round, based on last year's regular-season results.

The U.S. Open Cup third round is scheduled to be played July 1, the quarterfinals will take place July 8, the semifinals are Aug. 12 and the final is slated for Aug. 26.

While the complete format has not yet been announced for 2008, in 2007, the first round of the event began with 32 teams, comprising the qualifiers from the lower divisions -- 16 teams from the USL First and Second Divisions (second and third tier), and 16 amateur teams (USL Premier Development League and U.S. Adult Soccer Association). The 16 winners faced each other in the second round, with the eight winners joining the eight MLS entrants in the third round.

Last year, the New England Revolution defeated FC Dallas 3-2 to win their first ever Open Cup crown. The Chicago Fire has been the most successful MLS team in Open Cup history, winning the title four times in five final appearances.

In its 94th year, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup pits teams from all professional and amateur leagues in the country. MLS teams have won the last eight Open Cup titles.